Kukla's Korner Hockey

While a star player like Ilya Kovalchuk remains unsigned 15 days into unrestricted free agency, perhaps lost is the fact that the second top goal scorer on the market also remains without a team.

Lee Stempniak’s 28 goals in 2009-10 were second only to Kovalchuk’s 41 among the current UFA forwards still on the market. What gives?

“I mean, I’m certainly surprised,” Stempniak told ESPN.com on Thursday. “And not just with me, but with all the players that are out there right now, especially forwards. There’s a lot of very, very good forwards that are still out there on the market. I’m just surprised by how slow it’s been.”